Pilgrim's Cloak of Stephan III. Praun (1544-1591)

Pilgrim's Cloak. Leather, black, shell, bone. Summary: Stephan Praun's coat, hat and staff have been preserved as a rare ensemble. They survived in the art cabinet of his brother Paulus as documents of family pride and status symbols. Garments decorated with pilgrims' emblems, pilgrim staffs and rosaries with ornamentation typical of the country were offered at the pilgrimage sites. The main emphasis was no longer the suitable outfit for the journey, but rather the memory of the prestigious pilgrimage. Summary: Since the 11th century shells have been the symbol of a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James the Apostle in Santiago de Compostela. Shells symbolized the tomb as early as Classical Antiquity and were intended to protect travelers. Stephan Praun's hat is decorated with shells as well as statuettes of St. James, pilgrim's bottles and pilgrim's staffs. An almost identical hat is worn by a pilgrim in a painting by Pieter Bruegel from 1566. It is reasonable to assume that pilgrims' attributes displayed a high degree of standardization.